Building-block.



No. 820,387. PATENTED MAY 15, 1906.

G. S. BUR BUILDING BL K.

UNITED STA' IES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES S. BURTON, OF OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO MIRACLE PRESSED STONE COMPANY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

BUILDING-BLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1906.

T0 00% whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. BURTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oak Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Building-Blocks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to artificial building block or stone of the general character some times called cement" or concrete block.

It consists in the features of construction specified in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a piece of wall constructed with blocks embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of a piece of wall constructed With a block embodying a modification. Fig. 3 is a detail plan of one form of corner-block for use with the block shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of such wall, such as might be made at the-line 4 4 on Fig. 1.

Each block is formed with a plurality of apertures or recesses constituting air-spaces, all of which are interposed between the surfaces of the block, which are respectively the inner and outer surfaces when it is built into the wall An important purpose of these apertures is to prevent the existence of any continuous material directly from the inner to the outer surface of the wall, and for this purpose they must be so disposed in the blocks that, avoiding continuity, which would make them constitute but a single cavity or air-space from end to end and bottom to top of the wall, the consecutive cavities, while not meeting at edge to edge or end to end, so as to become continuous, shall meet or cross same plane transverse to the inner and outer surfaces of the wall, thus failing of continuity only because their proximate ends are not in the same plane parallel to the wall-surfaces. This result has heretofore been obtained by making the cavities in a plurality of rows or vertical layers and locating a cavity of one row opposite each neck between consecutive cavities of another row. To avoid certain objections to the formation of two or more rows ties.

a plurality of air-spaces, all of which extend obliquely with respect to the inner and outer wall-surfaces, terminating at both ends between said surfaces, so that the forward or outer end of each cavity is in front of the rear or inner end of the next cavity. Preferably the cavities by extending obliquely thus overlap considerably, so that in order to find a continuous body of substance from inner to outer surface of the wall a path must be chosen very oblique to said inner and outer surfaces, and therefore very much longer than a direct path would be. This results also in causing the septum 3 between any two consecutive cavities 2 to be exposed on both sides for a large portion of its length and for the remainder of that length to one cavity upon one side and to the other cavity upon the other side, so that any moisture which might be absorbed through the block from outer to inner surface is liable to be dried out into the cavities before it can penetrate to the inner surface of the wall. This result is facilitated by the preferred arrangement of the blocks in the Wall, which is that the cavities 2 2, extending up and down through the blocks, register at their upper and lower ends with the corresponding cavities of the blocks above and below, respectively, because with this arrangement the cavities become ventilating-fines for the moisture, which may be carried off instead of accumulating and being absorbed. The arrangement of cavities as described results in a fractional cavity or notch 4 at each end when the block is rectangular or cut square across, these fractional cavities in consecutive blocks registering end to end with each other to form complete cavi- For corners or exposed ends or edges of the wall blocks will be made from which the fractional cavity or notch is omitted at one end, and for lapping and interlocking at corners of the wall special blocks may be made, like the one denoted by reference character B in Fig. 2, having a fractional oblique cavity forming a notch 4 at one side for mating the fractional cavity or notch 4 at the end of the adjacent block and having a halflen th cavity 2 in oblique line with the lateraf notch 4 the block having at the end remote from the corner of the wall the regular form-to wit, the fractional cavity 4at that end for mating the next blockof regular form. Although, as stated, a purpose of this oblique arrangement of cavities is to efiect theresult of IIO preventing continuous material from inner to outer side with a single row of such cavities, the invention is not necessarily limited to the employment of a single row, for obviously a double row may be employed with additional advantage. Such construction is shown in Fig. 4, in which each row of cavities may fulfil the conditions above pointed out; but the cavities of the second row 2 2 being oblique in the opposite direction from the cavities of the first row, each cavity of said second row extends across past the end of a cavity of the first row and also across past the end of the se tum between two consecutive cavities of t e first row, and in like manner the cavities of the first row extend across past the end of the respective cavities of the second row and past the end of the septum between consecutive cavities of said second row, and thereby not only is there no directly-transverse path in solid material from outer to inner surface of the wall, but no path whatever can be followed in any con tinuous direction whatever from inner to outer surface which will not traverse one or more cavities. With this form of block for corners or exposed ends or edges of the wall the same change may be made as in the form having a single row of oblique cavities, consisting in omitting the fractional cavity or notch at the end which is to be exposed at the corner or end of the wall, and, similarly, for la ping and interlocking at the corners specia blocks may be made, as shown at B in Fig. 4, having the fractional oblique recess forming a notch 49 in the side of the block at the portion which lapsacross the end of the adjacent block for mating the fractional cavity or notch 4, the fractional cavity 4 of said block B, which would regularly occur at that end, being omitted or substituted by said notch 4* at the side.

A similar result to that obtained by the double row of oblique cavities shown in Fig. 4 may be obtained by a single row of cavities each of which in cross-section is V-shaped, the apex or bend of such V-shaped cavity being between the terminal branches of a like cavity next following it in the row. Such construction is shown in Fig. 2, wherein there are illustrated two such complete V- shaped cavities 5 5 and resulting fractional portions 5 5 of the two arms of an incomplete cavity at one end of the block and a wide notch 6 at the other end of the block corresponding to which there is a V-shaped tongue 6 at the end having the fractional terminal portions 5 5 of the recess. it will be seen, is the form which would resultfrom dividing a continuous piece having this formation of cavities into blocks or sections at direct transverse planes, because it would be necessary only to cut from the inner and outer surfaces, respectively, anywhere to the two branches of a V-shaped This,

cavity in order to completely sever the block, leaving the tongue 6*, as shown, and the notch 6, comprising the middle or bend portion of the divided cavity, and the space vacated by the removed tongue 6 of an adjacent piece, as illustrated. For corner-blocks or to form the exposed edge or end of the wall the block would be made either without the notch 6 or without the fractional recesses 5 The first of these forms is seen in the block which forms the corner in Fig. 2, and the other form is seen in Fig. 3. In each case in lieu of the recess 6 at the end there will be formed a recess 6 at the side, following the method shown and described with respect to the forms of blocks seen in Figs. 1 and 4.

I claim- 1. A concrete building-block having interposed between its inner and outer surfaces a system of air-spaces, all inclined to the inner and outer walls, the portions of such system proximate to the respective walls being oppositely inclined, each air-space being intruded into the angle between the next two oppositely-inclined portions of the system.

2. A concrete building-block having interposed between .its inner and outer surfaces air-spaces which are narrow relatively to their length and have their length inclined to the inner and outer surfaces, such air-spaces being in two rows proximate to the two sur' faces respectively and oppositely inclined, those of each row having their length extending crosswise ast the end of the corresponding space of t e other row.

3. A concrete building-block having inter posed between its inner and outer surfaces two rows of air-spaces, those of each row extending across the ends of corresponding spaces of the other row, each of said spaces havin its inner end extending within the triangle defined by the next two relatively transverse spaces.

4. In a wall, in combination with concrete building-blocks having interposed between their inner and outer surfaces airspaces which are narrow relatively to their length and which are inclined to said inner and outer surfaces respectively and lap by each other successively, and which have the end airspace of the series opening through the ends of the block and forming a notch or fractional space; a corner-block having in lieu of such end fractional space a lateral fractional space or notch adapted to register with the fractional end space of the regular blocks.

In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset my hand, in the presence of two witnesses, at

Chicago, Illinois, this 1 3th day of March, A. D. 1905.

CHAS. S. BURTON. Witnesses:

FRED. G. FIsoHER, M. GER'ERUDE Apr.-

Ioo 

